After a decade of suspicion, an Australian man secretly took his son for a DNA paternity test. The results showed that the boy was not his son, biologically. The man’s suspicion was aroused both by his mother’s remarks on how the boy looked nothing like him and the fact that he had once found his wife in a “compromising position” with a neighbor.
The couple had been married for 25 years when they got a divorce and the man moved out. The boy was 14 years old. Once the man moved out of the house, he no longer wished to have contact with the boy who was his son.
Now that a DNA test has confirmed that the child is not the man’s biological son, the woman has been ordered to repay her ex-husband $12,969 in child support and court costs. After the divorce, the father paid $700 every month in child support plus school fees and the boy’s trips overseas. The woman has 12 months to repay the sum, which includes $4,038 in court costs.
Unfortunately, there is more than one victim in this case. Looking at it from the young boy’s point of view, he is completely blameless, but will still feel the effects of no longer having a father figure. He has not seen the man he believed to be his father in nearly a year and a half.
The man in this case likely felt that he had been tricked into making child support payments for a child who was not his biological son. Although laws surrounding child custody in Australia are likely different from those in Texas, it is clear that the emotional effects of such a situation know no boundaries.
Source: Herald Sun, “Ex-husband wins back child support,” Padraic Murphy, Nov.28, 2011